Benefits management solution helps improve brokers’ efficiency

Between helping create plan designs, selling products, annual enrollment and ensuring compliance with the Affordable Care Act, benefit brokers are busy people.

The Bothell, Washington-based company, Vertafore, which provides cloud-based insurance software and services, said Thursday that its benefits management solution, BenefitPoint, has new capabilities designed to help independent agencies streamline their business.

Also see: How can brokers grow their business?

Thanks to the upgrade, brokers can drag and drop files from their computer and other applications directly into BenefitPoint, which cuts the amount of time needed to upload attachments in half, says Michelle Lewis, Vertafore’s director of product management. The new version also features a more robust audit trail, to help defend against error and omissions claims.

Brokers can use this solution to update massive amounts of data quickly. The new version of BenefitPoint streamlines carrier management by allowing brokers to search for large sets of plans and replace the writing carrier and/or commissions paid by carrier. “We’re focused on ease of use and efficiencies,” Lewis says.

Users can switch a book of business from a former producer to a new one much faster, too. When someone leaves a firm, handing their book of business to someone else typically includes going line by line, client by client. “It’s just a very tedious process,” says Greg Wright, senior vice president, agency solutions at Vertafore.

Not anymore. “Here, they can do that with just a few clicks,” he says.

Another tedious process is a manual comparison of estimated carrier commissions to checks received. BenefitPoint’s revenue tracking capability analyzes estimated revenue based on actual receivables, and quickly finds any missing revenue. On average, it finds 2% to 6% of missing revenue — one client found $90,000 in one month, Lewis says. Keeping track of revenue can be difficult, she says, because premiums change monthly as the employee population changes via hirings, firings, marriages, divorce, etc.

Vertafore, which has more than 20,000 agencies and carriers utilizing its solutions, uses customer feedback when creating innovative products, Wright says. That close relationship with its clients enables Vertafore to “develop the right solution faster,” he says. 

“Our clients really are our partners,” Lewis adds.

Vertafore plans to build on its new features to BenefitPoint as it strives to help firms increase profitability and stay compliant with the ACA, Wright says. “Over the next year, our team will continue rolling out even more features and capabilities that address the unique needs of benefits brokers across the country,” he says.